Black Canyon Conspiracy. Cindi Myers

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ fine.”

      “Was Marco with you when it happened?” Sophie asked.

      “Yes. I’m going to stay with him a few days.”

      “With Marco?” Sophie’s surprise was clear.

      “He thinks it will be safer. There was someone watching our apartment earlier.” She didn’t tell Sophie about the package with its implied death threat. Thank goodness Marco had taken it with them. She didn’t want to upset her sister, but also talking about the note made it too real.

      “I’m sure it is safer.” Sophie sounded amused. “That should be interesting. I think he’s attracted to you.”

      She shifted her gaze to Marco. Did all her friends think that he was interested in her? Then, why couldn’t she see it? He stood with his back to her, giving her a great view of his broad shoulders, muscular arms, narrow waist and admittedly perfect backside. He looked like the after photo in the advertisement for a workout program. Physically fit and totally together. The perfect match for a basket case like her—not. “He wants to get Prentice,” she said. “I’m the quickest route to that goal. It’s nothing personal.”

      “I don’t know about that. He’s good at hiding his feelings, but he’s bound to have some, somewhere beneath that stoic facade.”

      “You should consider staying with Rand,” Lauren said. “At least for a few days.” She didn’t want someone coming to the apartment looking for her and finding Sophie there alone.

      “Not a bad idea,” Sophie said.

      “Make him go back to the apartment with you to get your things,” Lauren said.

      “Do you really think it’s that dangerous?”

      She glanced at her destroyed car, the paint scraped from the side in a jagged, violent wound. “Yes,” she said simply.

      Marco tucked his phone back into his pocket and turned toward Lauren. “I have to go,” she said. The last thing she wanted was for him to overhear Sophie’s analysis of his potential as a love interest. “I’ll call you later.”

      “Someone will be here to pick us up in a few minutes,” Marco said once she’d hung up. “Everything okay?”

      “Yes. I was just letting Sophie know what was happening.”

      “Good idea.” He leaned back against the car and scanned the horizon. He had a stillness about him she envied, as if whenever he wanted he could quiet all the busyness and distraction that plagued her.

      “What are you thinking?” she asked.

      “That it would be hard for a sniper to position himself here. The country’s too open.”

      Her knees went weak, and she joined him in leaning against the car. “You think someone might be out there, ready to shoot us?”

      He shook his head. “It’s not a good location.”

      She closed her eyes. This was too real. Someone—probably Richard Prentice—wanted her dead.

      “I’ll feel better when we get out of the open,” he said. “Someone will probably come along soon to see if we crashed—to make sure we’re dead.”

      She swallowed hard. “Can we talk about something else, please?”

      He didn’t take his gaze from the horizon. “What do you want to talk about?”

      “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

      “I had six older sisters.”

      “Big family.” She envied him. Sophie was the only family she had. “Do you see them often?”

      “Not really. They live in California.” He fell silent for a moment, then added, “Only four of them are still alive.”

      “Oh. I’m sorry.”

      “One sister died of an overdose. The other disappeared. We don’t know what happened to her.”

      And here she’d thought she was the only one with troubles. “That must be hard,” she said. Not the innocuous conversation she’d hoped for.

      “It is what it is.” He straightened. “Here’s our ride.”

      A Cruiser identical to the one Marco usually drove made a U-turn and pulled in behind Lauren’s disabled car. Montrose County sheriff’s deputy Lance Carpenter, the local representative on the task force, left the vehicle running as he stepped out of the driver’s seat and pushed his Stetson back on his head. “Trying out for the demolition derby?” he asked.

      “Very funny.” Marco shoved the car keys into Lance’s hands. “Give these to the wrecker driver—and make sure nobody touches anything around the brakes until the techs have gone over it.” He took Lauren’s hand and pulled her toward the Cruiser.

      “Where do you think you’re going?” Lance asked.

      “I need to get Lauren out of here before whoever cut those brake lines shows up to admire the results of his handiwork.”

      “What am I supposed to do?” Lance asked.

      “Wait here for the wrecker driver.”

      “Should we have left him?” Lauren asked as Marco gunned the engine and they headed toward the park.

      “The wrecker will be there any minute now, and I wasn’t comfortable with you standing around out in the open.”

      “The idea that I have a target on my back doesn’t seem real to me.”

      “The trick is to balance the awareness of danger with the need to keep from panicking.” He glanced at her. “Not easy, I know.”

      “I think I’m glad I got the extra meds.”

      “I want to stop by headquarters and talk to the captain, then we’ll get you settled at my place.”

      “I left my bag in the car.”

      “Lance will bring it.”

      “You seem pretty sure of that. Do you Rangers communicate via ESP or secret code or something?”

      “He’s got my back.” He glanced at her. “Now you’re with me, so he’s got your back, too.”

      His words—and the certainty with which he spoke them, sent a different kind of heat curling through her—part old-fashioned lust and part the unfamiliar warmth of acceptance. Her disease had separated her from others for so long. How ironic that a threat to her life had involved her with a community of friends again.

      Half a dozen Cruisers filled the spaces in front of the task force headquarters building. “Something’s up.” Marco parked along the side of the road and was out of the vehicle before Lauren had even unbuckled her seat belt.

      She hurried after him, running to keep up. СКАЧАТЬ